Medicine trial production supporting system

ABSTRACT

A computer system ( 100 ), an ingredient manufacturer system ( 200 ), and composition manufacturers can be connected online, and a system of the ingredient manufacturer obtains composition information from a system ( 300 ), and provides it for the system ( 100 ). At this time, an estimated product property and production cost can be provided.

TECHNICAL FIELD

The present invention relates to a medicine prototype support system andmethod for supporting product information and ingredient transactionbetween a product manufacturer and an ingredient manufacturer, forexample, a medicine prototype support system and method for supporting atransaction between a product manufacturer of a composition formed byone main active and other ingredients, such as health food, other food,cosmetics, etc. especially medicines and a manufacturer of an ingredientforming part of a composition.

BACKGROUND ART

Conventionally, a composition product manufacturer (hereinafter referredto as a product manufacturer, for example, a pharmaceutical company) ismainly engaged in manufacturing the main ingredient (for example, anefficacy ingredient) of the composition, and requests a compositioningredient manufacturer (hereinafter referred to as an ingredientmanufacturer) to manufacture and provide other composition ingredients(for example, an excipient for forming a tablet appropriate for theefficacy ingredient) appropriate for the main ingredient.

In this case, it is rare that a user is informed of the optimumcomposition ingredient for a predetermined efficacy ingredient from thebeginning, and a product manufacturer selects the optimum compositioningredient based on the manufacture of a sample product and itsevaluation from a combination of a plurality of composition ingredientsregarded as candidates. However, it is necessary to accumulate theknowledge of various composition ingredients and a compositionmanufacturing method using them for the combination of the optimum mainingredient with other composition ingredients, and it is not always easyfor a product manufacturer.

For example, the contents of a process of exchanging information among aproduct manufacturer, an ingredient manufacturer, and a contractcomposition manufacturer (hereinafter referred to as a compositionmanufacturer) are practically explained below by referring to FIG. 1.

<1> When a product manufacturer manufactures a new medicine, themanufacturer asks the ingredient manufacturer about the informationabout the properties, etc. of the necessary composition ingredients a,b, c, . . . for the manufacture.

<2> The ingredient manufacturer checks the information about the askedcomposition ingredient, and presents (returns as an answer) theinformation to the product manufacturer.

<3> The product manufacturer prepares a sample, and evaluates it. When abetter evaluation cannot be obtained, the processes <1> to <3> arerepeated.

<4> The finally determined ingredient is indicated as a compositioningredient to be purchased to the ingredient manufacturer.

<5> The ingredient manufacturer sells the indicated ingredient to theproduct manufacturer.

<6> The product manufacturer delivers the purchased ingredient to thecomposition manufacturer, discloses the prescription, and commitsproduction of the product.

<7> The composition manufacturer performs contract manufacture.

<8> A manufactured product is supplied to the product manufacturer.

A product manufacturer has to repeatedly exchange information with aningredient manufacturer and a composition manufacturer, and it has beenthe problem to be solved that a laborious job is to be performed inexchanging information for manufacture of a product. Especially, when anew medicine is developed, it has been difficult to request an externalorganization to develop it while maintaining the security of the mainingredient (important ingredient) of the medicine to be developed.

DISCLOSURE OF THE INVENTION

The present invention directs to provide a medicine prototype supportsystem and method capable of supporting a product manufacturer detectingthe optimum other composition ingredients for a main ingredient andcombinations of them in cooperation with the ingredient manufacturer orthe composition manufacturer, and realizing a quick transaction betweena product manufacturer and a related manufacturer.

According to the first embodiment of the present invention includes: afirst system which includes input means for inputting information,output means for outputting information, and communications means fortransmitting information input from the input means and receivinginformation to be output by the output means, and is used by a productmanufacturer; a second system which includes input means for inputtingan information, output means for outputting information, andcommunications means for transmitting information input from the inputmeans and receiving information to be output by the output means, and isused by an ingredient manufacturer; and a third system which accumulatescomposition information relating to a composition of a product, canprovides the output means of the second system with compositioninformation at a retrieval request transmitted from the second system,and is used by a composition manufacturer, wherein main ingredientinformation relating to a main ingredient of a product composition isinput from the input means of the first system, the main ingredientinformation is output to the output means of the second system throughthe communications means of the first system and the second system,ingredient information about a product composition ingredient and aretrieval request are input from the input means of the second system,accumulated composition information about the ingredient information isobtained from the third system and output from the output means of thesecond system, estimated product property information and estimatedproduct production cost information determined according to the outputaccumulated information are input from the input means of the secondsystem and transferred through the communications means of the firstsystem and the second system, and output from the output means of thefirst system.

The second embodiment of the invention is based on the medicineprototype support system of the first embodiment, wherein after theestimated product property information and estimated product productioncost information are output from the output means of the first system, aprototype manufacture request input from the first system is output fromthe output means of the second system through the communications meansof the first system and the second system, the information about atleast the properties of the prototype is input from the input means ofthe second system as the information about the manufacture of a product,and the input information about the manufacture is output from theoutput means of the first system through the communications means of thefirst system and the second system.

The second embodiment of the present invention is a medicine prototypesupporting method used among a first system which is capable ofinputting and outputting information, has communications capabilities,and is used by a product manufacturer, a second system which is capableof inputting and outputting information, has communicationscapabilities, and is used by an ingredient manufacturer, and a thirdsystem which accumulates composition information about the compositionof a product, can provide the second system with composition informationaccording to a retrieval request transmitted from the second system, andis used by a composition manufacturer wherein main ingredientinformation relating to a main ingredient of a product composition isinput from the first system, the main ingredient information istransferred and output to the second system through the communicationscapabilities of the first system and the second system, ingredientinformation about a product composition ingredient and a retrievalrequest are input from the second system, accumulated compositioninformation about the ingredient information is obtained from the thirdsystem and output from the second system, estimated product propertyinformation and estimated product production cost information determinedaccording to the output accumulated information are input from thesecond system and transferred through the communications capabilities ofthe first system and the second system, and output from the firstsystem.

The fourth embodiment of the invention is based on the medicineprototype supporting method of the third embodiment, wherein after theestimated product property information and estimated product productioncost information are output from the first system, a prototypemanufacture request input from the first system is output from thesecond system through the communications means of the second system, theinformation about at least the properties of the prototype is input fromthe second system as the information about the manufacture of a product,and the input information about the manufacture is output from the firstsystem through the communications capabilities of the first system andthe second system.

The fifth embodiment of the invention includes: a first system which hasinput means for inputting information, output means for outputtinginformation, and communications means for transmitting the informationinput from the input means and receiving information to be output by theoutput means, and is used by a product manufacturer; and a second systemwhich accumulates composition information about the composition of aproduct, has input means for inputting information, output means foroutputting information, and communications means for transmittinginformation input from the input means and receiving information to beoutput by the output means, and is used by an ingredient manufacturer,wherein main ingredient information relating to the main ingredient of aproduct composition is input from the input means of the first system,the main ingredient information is output to the output means of thesecond system through the communications means of the first system andthe second system, ingredient information about composition ingredientand a retrieval request are input from the input means of the secondsystem, accumulated composition information about the ingredientinformation is obtained from the second system at the retrieval requestand output from the output means of the second system, and estimatedproduct property information and estimated product production costinformation determined according to the output accumulated informationare input from the input means of the second system, transferred throughthe communications means of the first system and the second system, andoutput from the output means of the first system.

The sixth embodiment of the invention is a medicine prototype supportsystem for an ingredient manufacturer developing medicines at a requestof a product manufacturer which includes a product manufacturer systemof the product manufacturer, an ingredient manufacturer system of theingredient manufacturer, and a plurality of composition manufacturersystems of composition manufacturers which the ingredient manufacturerrequests to manufacture a composition connected through communicationsmeans, wherein the product manufacturer system has transmission meansfor transmitting at least main ingredient information about a medicalproduct to the ingredient manufacturer system, the ingredientmanufacturer system has a database storing main ingredient informationand composition ingredient information, composition ingredientdetermination means for determining composition ingredient informationabout a medical product to be developed according to the main ingredientinformation from the product manufacturer system based on the database,and transmission means for transmitting resultant composition ingredientinformation from the composition ingredient determination means to theplurality of composition manufacturer systems, and the plurality ofcomposition manufacturer systems has transmission means for transmittingcomposition manufacture information about the manufacture of a part of amanufacture process of the medical product to the ingredientmanufacturer system.

The seventh embodiment of the invention is based on the medicineprototype support system sixth embodiment, wherein the main ingredientinformation about the database of the ingredient manufacturer system isranked depending on the security level, and when main ingredientinformation at a high security level is transmitted to the compositionmanufacturer system, the information is transmitted after being at leastonce converted by information conversion means.

The eighth embodiment of the invention is based on the medicineprototype support system of the sixth embodiment, and further includesinformation conversion means for conversion from main ingredientinformation to another type of information which does not allow the mainingredient information to be estimated in a database of the ingredientmanufacturer system.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is an explanatory view of the conventional flow of information;

FIG. 2 is a block diagram of the configuration of the system accordingto an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 3 is an explanatory view of the flow of information according to anembodiment of the present invention; and

FIG. 4 is a diagram showing the relationship of FIGS. 4A and 4B;

FIG. 4A is a block diagram of the configuration of the system accordingto another embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 4B is a block diagram of the configuration of the system accordingto another embodiment of the present invention.

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION

The embodiments of the present invention are described below in detailby referring to the attached drawings.

FIG. 2 shows the entire configuration of the medicine prototype supportsystem applicable to the embodiment described later. In FIG. 2, acomputer system 100 (hereinafter referred to simply as a system) used bya product manufacturer and has a communications server 101 and one ormore clients 102 LAN-connected to the communications server 101. Thecommunications server 101 transfers the information transmitted from theclient 102 to the ingredient manufacturer system 200. The client 102 canuse a personal computer, etc., and is loaded with software forelectronic mail and a browser for browsing a home page (an HTMLdocument, etc.). The client 102 inputs the information to be transmittedto the client of another system described later, and displays theinformation received from another system.

An ingredient manufacturer system 200 has a communications server 201and a plurality of clients 202 LAN-connected to the communicationsserver 201. The functions of the communications server 201 and theclients 202 can be considered to be the same as those of theabove-mentioned communications server 101 and the client 102. Thecommunications server 201 stores in the internal storage device, forexample, in the hard disk storage device the information (generallycalled property information) to be presented to the product manufacturerincluding properties, etc. depending on the type of a compositioningredient.

Furthermore, the communications server 201 is loaded with an estimatingprogram for calculation of a manufacture price and a manufacturecondition according to the information about the type and amount, etc.of a composition ingredient. Furthermore, the communications server 201is loaded with a program for a read of the accumulated informationaccumulated in the communications server (described later) of acomposition manufacturer.

In an estimating program, a calculating expression for a manufacturecost using the quantity as a parameter is predetermined for each type ofcomposition ingredient. By the calculating expression, a manufacturecost can be calculated in the program. Since a program for remotelyreading accumulated information (what is called data of a database) ismarketed, a commonly marketed program can be used.

A composition manufacturer system 300 has a communications server 301and a plurality of clients 302 LAN-connected to the communicationsserver 301. The functions of the communications server 301 and theclients 302 can be considered to be similar to those of thecommunications server 101 and the client 102. However, the storagedevice of the composition manufacturer system 300 is loaded with awell-known database management program for offering accumulatedinformation at an inquiry of accumulated information, that is, a query(retrieval request) from the ingredient manufacturer system 200. Theaccumulated information refers to the information relating to theproperties of the composition (possibly including the entire product)obtained by combining a plurality of composition ingredients and themanufacture condition (the above two pieces of information can begenerally called composition information).

A communications network 400 is a communications network which can beconnected to the systems 100 to 300. For example, any well-knowncommunications network can be used regardless of a dedicated telephoneline called the Internet, wireless, or cable.

(First Embodiment)

The procedure of the first embodiment is explained by referring to FIG.3.

(Process 1)

The staff of product manufacture of a product manufacturer inputs awritten request from the client 102, that is, a written request (<1>shown in FIG. 3) for providing a product composition to attain thedesired properties of the product X including a manufactured mainingredient X1 and a manufacturing method, and transmits it to theingredient manufacturer system 200. A request item from the productmanufacturer can be the designation of the main ingredient X1, a desireditem and value of a product, and also product style, a desired productcost, the restrictions on the manufacture condition, the restrictions ona used ingredient, etc.

When the main ingredient X1 is generally difficult to acquire, it isnecessary for a product manufacturer to provide the main ingredient X1for an ingredient manufacturer. In some cases, a substance similar tothe main ingredient X1 is provided.

(Process 2)

A sales staff of an ingredient manufacturer receives a written requestat the clients 202 through the communications server 201. The salesstaff inputs uses the clients 202 and inputs a retrieval request aboutthe composition ingredient relating to the main ingredient described inthe written request (<2> shown in FIG. 3) and acquires the information(composition information) about the main ingredient X1 accumulated inthe communications server 301 of the composition manufacturer system 300or various product composition formed by the ingredient similar inproperties to it, and the properties and the manufacture conditionattained by them (<3> shown in FIG. 3). Furthermore, the productcomposition containing the composition ingredient X2 manufactured by theingredient manufacturer and the manufacture condition are obtainedaccording to the accumulated information in the communications server301. Additionally, the information about the properties, etc. of aproduct is obtained from the accumulated information in its owncommunications server 201 or the communications server 301 of thecomposition manufacturer system 300 of the composition manufacturer.Thus, the properties of an estimated product are determined. Then, thesales staff inputs information (information about compositioningredient, quantity, etc.) for estimation from the clients 202, uses anestimating program of the communications server 201, and calculates themanufacture cost, and the product cost. When the product has legalrestrictions on a substance available as a composition ingredient asmedicines, the composition and the production cost should be determinedwithin the range of the restrictions.

(Process 3)

The information about the determined estimated product property andproduction cost is input from the clients 202, and transmitted to theclient 102 of the staff of product manufacture of the productmanufacturer through the communications servers 201 and 101 (<4> shownin FIG. 3).

(Process 4)

The staff of product manufacture considers the transmitted estimatedproduct property and sales cost to prepare a written request forprototype manufacture. A written request for prototype manufacture (<5>shown in FIG. 3) is input from the client 102, and transmitted to theclients 202 of the sales staff of the ingredient manufacturer throughthe communications servers 101 and 201. The sales staff transfers awritten request for prototype manufacture to the clients 302 through thecommunications servers 201 and 301.

At this time, the ingredient manufacturer discloses the productcomposition and the manufacture condition to the compositionmanufacturer. For example, the ingredient manufacturer provides theinformation about the main ingredient X1 and another compositioningredient X2 for the composition manufacturer. Thus, when theingredient manufacturer requests the composition manufacturer tomanufacture a prototype, it is desired that a confidential contract ismade between the ingredient manufacturer and the compositionmanufacturer on the product composition, the manufacture condition, etc.Furthermore, when an ingredient manufacturer can manufacture aprototype, the manufacture department, etc. belonging to the ingredientmanufacturer has the function of the composition manufacturer in FIG. 3.

(Process 5)

The composition manufacturer receives a request to manufacture aprototype, manufactures it, and delivers it to the ingredientmanufacturer (refer to the dotted line shown in FIG. 3).

(Process 6)

The ingredient manufacturer measures the properties of the prototype. Insome cases, the composition manufacturer measures the property values ofthe prototype, and can deliver the prototype including the information.The process 6 in this case is performed by the composition manufacturer.

(Process 7)

The ingredient manufacturer provides a prototype for a productmanufacturer (refer to the dotted line shown in FIG. 3.). Theinformation (<6> shown in FIG. 3) about the (measured) properties of theprototype is transmitted from the clients 202 of the sales staff of theingredient manufacturer to the client 102 of the product manufacturer.At this time, it is noticeable that the information about thecomposition and the manufacturing method are not disclosed. If aprototype is analyzed, and the composition and the manufacture conditionare easily estimated, it is necessary to take action like a contractetc. not to analyze the product composition between the productmanufacturer and the ingredient manufacturer.

(Process 8)

The product manufacturer measures the properties of the providedprototype, and determines whether or not the disclosure of theinformation about the composition and manufacture condition of prototypeis required (the disclosure of the information about the composition andthe manufacture condition of a prototype is requested). Then, the resultis transmitted to the clients 202 as a sales staff of the ingredientmanufacturer (refer to <7> shown in FIG. 3).

(Process 9)

When the ingredient manufacturer receives a notification from themanufacture staff of the product manufacturer that the information is tobe disclosed, the sales staff discloses the information by transmittingthe information about the product composition and the manufacturecondition of a prototype from the clients 202 to the client 102.

When the product manufacturer manufactures a product, the order(manufacture request as indicated by <9> shown in FIG. 3) of thecomposition ingredient X2 sold by the ingredient manufacturer is madefrom the client 102 of the manufacture staff to the clients 202 as thesales staff. The ingredient manufacturer receives the order, andmanufactures the composition ingredient X2, or sells it when there isthe ingredient in stock. When the product manufacturer does notmanufacture the product, it can be committed on the compositionmanufacturer. The commission can be performed through an onlineoperation.

The prototype is provided and the payment and the reception of the pricefor the related information, etc. occur at any time depending on eachstyle. For example, before starting the manufacture of a prototype, anestimated property value and a sales cost are presented to the productmanufacturer, and the payment and reception of the price for thepreparation of a prototype can occur. Furthermore, when the propertyinformation and manufacturing method information are to be purchasedafter presenting a prototype, the payment and reception of the pricealso occur. Additionally it is natural that the exchange of the pricefor the manufacture of a prototype occurs between the productmanufacturer and the ingredient manufacturer.

These prices can be processed online (that is, accounting process).Practically, the communications server 101 of the product manufacturersystem performs the process of transferring the amount set in advance tothe bank account of the ingredient manufacturer each time necessaryinformation is received from the ingredient manufacturer system 200. Thepayment of a fund can be performed by a bank transfer or usingelectronic money, etc.

The practical communications method according to the first embodiment isbriefly explained below.

Various communicating means such as electronic mail, file transfer(FTP), etc. can be used for the communications of the information amongthe staffs of the product manufacturer, the ingredient manufacturer, andthe composition manufacturer.

It is not necessary that the above-mentioned staffs are the samepersons, but can be any appropriate persons in the sales, development,manufacture, and other departments as proxy agent.

The information input means of the clients 102 and 202 can be akeyboard, a floppy disk (registered trademark), other storage devices,communications devices for inputting information from other devicesthrough communications, etc.

The information output means of the clients 102 and is 202 can be aprinter, a floppy disk (registered trademark), other storage devices,communications devices for outputting information throughcommunications, etc.

(Second Embodiment)

The above-mentioned first embodiment has the novelty in an ingredientmanufacturer obtaining the accumulated information about the system ofthe composition manufacturer, and providing the product manufacturerwith the information desired by the product manufacturer. While the loadof the product manufacturer is reduced, the information inputtingoperation of the ingredient manufacturer increases. Therefore, themanual operation of the ingredient manufacturer can be automated in thesecond embodiment as described below.

In this embodiment, an HTML document for display of the screen for inputon the product manufacturer side to the communications server 201 of theingredient manufacturer and the screen (information output screen) fordisplay of the information received from the ingredient manufacturer isstored. The client 102 on the product manufacturer side uses a browserand displays the HTML document (information input screen) on the displayscreen of the client 102. On the information input screen, the mainingredient and the ingredient information about other compositioningredients shown in FIG. 3 (<1>), the prototype manufacture request(<5>), a request to disclose the prototype manufacture condition, etc.(<7>), and a manufacture request (<9>) are input.

The staff of the ingredient manufacturer uses the browser of the clients202 and displays the input screen to confirm the input information onthe product manufacturer side. Upon receipt of the main ingredient andthe ingredient information about other composition ingredient, thecommunications server 201 automatically activates an estimating program,estimates a sales cost, and displays the result on the informationoutput screen.

The process of retrieving necessary information from the accumulatedinformation of the composition manufacturer system 300 can also beautomatically performed by a database retrieval program.

The estimated product property can be generated by a dedicated programby combining the information obtained from the composition manufacturersystem 300 with the accumulated information about the ingredientmanufacturer system 200, processing the result, and displaying it on theinformation output screen.

Furthermore, the accumulated information accumulated in the compositionmanufacturer system 300 and the information relating to the compositionaccumulated by the ingredient manufacturer can be accumulated in theaccumulation means in the ingredient manufacturer system 200 of theingredient manufacturer, for example, in a hard disk so that theinformation relating to the composition can be retrieved from theaccumulation means and used (corresponding to the invention according toclaim 5).

In the composition manufacturer system ingredient manufacturer system200 in the embodiment above, the information about the properties of thecomposition ingredient is accumulated, but the main ingredientinformation or other composition ingredient information or both of themcan be used as a query for retrieval of the accumulated information.

The above-mentioned program can be easily prepared by those skilled inthe art based on the explanation of the specifications.

In the concepts of the product manufacturer, the ingredientmanufacturer, the composition manufacturer, a proxy agent, for example,a trading company can be included.

The third embodiment of the present invention is explained below byreferring to the attached drawings.

FIG. 4 shows the entire configuration of the medicine (pharmaceutical)prototype support system applicable to the embodiment described later.In FIG. 4, the computer system 100 used by a product manufacturer(hereinafter referred to simply as a product manufacturer system), andincludes main ingredient information about medicines so that newmedicines can be developed. Normally, the product composition containedin the medicines contains the important ingredient having efficacy (mainingredient) and composition ingredient having no efficacy but requiredin preparing and designing medicines. The product manufacturer systemhas a communications server 101 and one or more client 102 LAN-connectedto the communications server 101. The communications server 101transfers the information transmitted from the client 102 to theingredient manufacturer system 200. The client 102 can use a personalcomputer, etc., and is loaded with a browser for browsing electronicmail software, a home page (HTML document, etc.). The client 102 inputsinformation to be transmitted to the client of other systems describedlater, and displays the information received from other systems.

The ingredient manufacturer system 200 is an ingredient manufacturersystem used by an ingredient manufacturer, and comprises acommunications server 201 and a plurality of clients 202 LANN-connectedto the communications server 201. The functions of the communicationsserver 201 and the clients 202 are considered to be similar to those ofthe communications server 101 and the 102. In the communications server201, the internal storage device such as a hard disk storage devicestores the information (generally referred to as property information)to be provided for the product manufacturer such as the propertiesdepending on the type of composition ingredient and the manufacturingmethod (product process information) of the composition manufacturer,the information relating to the incompatibility between the mainingredient and the composition ingredient, and the information about theoptimum composition ingredient for the product process information as adatabase (composition ingredient determination means, informationconversion means).

The communications server 201 is loaded with an estimating program forcalculation of the manufacture price and manufacture condition accordingto the information about the type and amount of composition ingredient,etc.

An estimating program can be designed to calculate the manufacture costby the calculation expression obtained by predetermining a calculationexpression for the manufacture cost using the quantity as a parameterfor each type of composition ingredient.

Systems 310, 320, 330, . . . are used by a plurality of compositionmanufacturers, and comprise communications servers 311, 321, 331, . . ., and a plurality of clients 312, 322, 332 LAN-connected to thecommunications servers 311, 321, 331, . . . . The functions of thecommunications servers 311, 321, and 331 and the clients 312, 322, and332 are similar to those of the communications server 101 and the client102.

A communications network 400 capable of connecting the systems 100 to330, and can use a well-known communications network for example, adedicated telephone line called the Internet and regardless of wirelessor cable.

(Third Embodiment)

The procedure according to the third embodiment is explained byreferring to FIG. 4.

(Process 1)

The staff of product manufacture of a product manufacturer inputs awritten request from the client 102, that is, a written request (<1>shown in FIG. 4) for providing a product composition to attain thedesired properties of the product X including a manufactured mainingredient X1 and a manufacturing method, and transmits it to theingredient manufacturer system 200 through the server 101. A requestitem from the product manufacturer can be the designation of the mainingredient X1, a desired item and value of a product, and also productstyle, a desired product cost, the restrictions on the manufacturecondition, the restrictions on a used ingredient, etc.

When it is generally hard for an ingredient manufacturer to obtain themain ingredient X1, it is necessary for a product manufacturer toprovide the main ingredient X1 for an ingredient manufacturer. When itis impossible to externally offer an ingredient under a developmentstage, a substance similar in properties to the main ingredient X1 isprovided, or the property information necessary in designing medicinescan be provided although designation of the main ingredient X1 can notbe specified. Furthermore, a request for a style (placebo) in whichpreparation and design can be performed only using the compositioningredient excluding the main ingredient X1 from the medicines X. Theyare different in request cost relating to the manufacture of a prototypebecause they are related to the disclosure of confidential information,difficulty in preparation and design, and the development speed.

(Process 2)

A sales staff of an ingredient manufacturer receives a written requestat the clients 202 through the communications server 201. The salesstaff inputs uses the clients 202 and inputs a retrieval request aboutthe composition ingredient relating to the medicine X described in thewritten request for the communications server 201 (<2> shown in FIG. 4).The composition information database in the communications server 201 ofthe ingredient manufacturer system 200 stores the main ingredient X1 andthe main ingredient X′1 similar to the main ingredient X1, variouscomposition manufacture information including the composition ingredientX2 manufactured by the ingredient manufacturer, and information(composition information) relating to the preparing manufacturecondition using the properties attained by them, the main ingredient X1and X′1 (<3> shown in FIG. 4). Then, the optimum composition ingredientX2 related to the X1 information can be detected. Thus, the propertiesof an estimated product are determined. Then, the sales staff inputsinformation (information about composition ingredient, quantity, etc.)for estimation from the clients 202, uses an estimating program of thecommunications server 201, and calculates the prototype manufacturecost, and the product cost. To calculate the cost, a cost calculationdatabase is prepared depending on the prototype development speed, thedifficulty in pharmaceutical designing, and the security of the mainingredient. When the product has legal restrictions on a substanceavailable as a composition ingredient as medicines, the composition andthe production cost should be determined within the range of therestrictions.

(Process 3)

The information about the determined estimated product properties, theprototype product cost, and the production cost is input from theclients 202, and transmitted to the client 102 of the staff of productmanufacture of the product manufacturer through the communicationsservers 201 and 101 (<5> shown in FIG. 4).

(Process 4)

The staff of product manufacture considers the transmitted estimatedproduct property and sales cost to prepare a written request forprototype manufacture. A written request for prototype manufacture (<6>shown in FIG. 4) is input from the client 102, and transmitted to theclients 202 of the sales staff of the ingredient manufacturer throughthe communications servers 101 and 201.

(Process 5)

The sales staff of the ingredient manufacturer appropriately divides theprototype manufacture process, and generates a written request forprototype manufacture for each of the divided processes, assigns thewritten request for prototype manufacture to a plurality of compositionmanufacturers, and transmits the written request for prototypemanufactures to the clients 312, 322, and 332 of the staffs of thecomposition manufacturers through the communications servers 201, 311,321, and 331 (<7> shown in FIG. 4).

At this time, the ingredient manufacturer discloses a necessary productcomposition and its manufacture condition for each process. Theimportant point is that the information about the main ingredient X1 isnot disclosed, but the main ingredient X′1 is disclosed depending on theconfidential rank and the main ingredient X″1 obtained by informationconverting the main ingredient X1 or the main ingredient X′1 obtained bythe information conversion means can be disclosed. The informationconversion means is contained in the system of the ingredientmanufacturer, and the main ingredient X1 information cannot be estimatedfrom the main ingredient X1 information whose confidentiality to bemaintained, or there is a database (information conversion database) forconversion into hardly estimated main ingredient X′1 and main ingredientX″1. An example of the conversion can be, in the preparation developmentusing a verapamil hydrochloride (X1) which is a vasoconstrictor, dilazephydrochloride (X′1) is selected. The dilazep hydrochloride as well asverapamil hydrochloride is a vasoconstrictor, and is selected because itindicates a similar solubility level “sparingly soluble”. From thesimilarity in solubility which is the main factor affecting theparticle-generating process in the preparing process, the acetaminophen(X″1) which is an antifebrile is selected. It is impossible to estimatethe development of the verapamil hydrochloride from the acetaminophen.

For example, the ingredient manufacturer offers the information aboutother composition ingredients including the main ingredient X′1 andcomposition ingredient X2 for the composition manufacturer including thecommunications server 311. The ingredient manufacturer discloses to thecomposition manufacturer having the communications server 321 theproperties (does not disclose the information about the main ingredientX′1) required in the manufacturing process of the process 2 prototype Xrequested by the composition manufacturer having the communicationsserver 321 relating to the process 1 prototype X prepared from othercomposition ingredients including the main ingredient X′1 and thecomposition ingredient X2. Furthermore, the ingredient manufacturerdiscloses the information about the process 2 prototype X and requeststhe composition manufacturer having the 331 to manufacture a prototypeX. The servers 311, 321, and 331 perform a monitoring operation not tomake double requests to generate a prototype in the same process. Forexample, assume that a particle is generated using the main ingredientX′1 and other composition ingredients containing the compositioningredient X2, and a process 1 prototype X is obtained. Using theprocess 1 prototype X, a tablet is generated as a process 2 prototype X.The coated tablet obtained by 20 coating the process 2 prototype X is aprocess 3 prototype X.

When the ingredient manufacturer requests the composition manufacturerto manufacture a prototype, it is desired that the ingredientmanufacturer makes a security contract in advance relating to theproduct composition, manufacture condition, etc. with the compositionmanufacturer although it is guaranteed that the information related tothe main ingredient X1 can be protected against disclosure to thecomposition manufacturer. Furthermore, an ingredient manufacturer canalso manufacture a prototype. In this case, the manufacturingdepartment, etc. belonging to the ingredient manufacturer functions as acomposition manufacturer as shown in FIG. 4. Furthermore, the costs forgenerating a process 1 prototype X, a process 2 prototype X, and aprocess 3 prototype X are determined.

(Process 6)

The composition manufacturer receives a request to manufacture aprototype, manufactures it, and delivers it to the ingredientmanufacturer (refer to the dotted lines a, b, and c shown in FIG. 4).

(Process 7)

The ingredient manufacturer measures the properties of the prototypes(process 1 prototype X, process 2 prototype X, and process 3 prototypeX). In some cases, the composition manufacturer measures the propertyvalues of the prototype, and can deliver the prototype including theinformation. The process 6 in this case is performed by the compositionmanufacturer.

(Process 8)

The ingredient manufacturer provides a prototype for a productmanufacturer (refer to the dotted line shown in FIG. 4.). Theinformation (<8> shown in FIG. 4) about the (measured) properties of theprototype is transmitted from the clients 202 of the sales staff of theingredient manufacturer to the client 102 of the product manufacturer.At this time, it is noticeable that the information about thecomposition and the manufacturing method are not disclosed. If aprototype is analyzed, and the composition and the manufacture conditionare easily estimated, it is necessary to take action like a contractetc. not to analyze the product composition between the productmanufacturer and the ingredient manufacturer.

(Process 9)

The product manufacturer measures the properties of the providedprototype, and determines whether or not the disclosure of theinformation about the composition and manufacture condition of prototypeis required (the disclosure of the information about the composition andthe manufacture condition of a prototype is requested). Then, the resultis transmitted to the clients 202 as a sales staff of the ingredientmanufacturer (refer to <9> shown in FIG. 4).

(Process 10)

When the ingredient manufacturer receives a notification from themanufacture staff of the product manufacturer that the information is tobe disclosed, the sales staff discloses the information by transmittingthe information about the product composition and the manufacturecondition of a prototype from the clients 202 to the client 102.

When the product manufacturer manufactures a product, the order(manufacture request as indicated by <10> shown in FIG. 4) of thecomposition ingredient X2 sold by the ingredient manufacturer is madefrom the client 102 of the manufacture staff to the clients 202 as thesales staff. The ingredient manufacturer receives the order, andmanufactures the composition ingredient X2, or sells it when there isthe ingredient in stock. When the product manufacturer does notmanufacture the product, it can be committed on the compositionmanufacturer. The commission can be performed through an onlineoperation.

The prototype is provided and the payment and the reception of the pricefor the related information, etc. occur at any time depending on eachstyle. For example, before starting the manufacture of a prototype, theestimated property value and a sales cost are presented to the productmanufacturer, and the payment and reception of the price for thepreparation of a prototype can occur. Furthermore, when the propertyinformation and manufacturing method information are to be purchasedafter presenting a prototype, the payment and reception of the pricealso occur. Additionally it is natural that the exchange of the pricefor the manufacture of a prototype occurs between the productmanufacturer and the ingredient manufacturer.

These prices can be processed online (that is, accounting process).Practically, the communications server 101 of the product manufacturersystem performs the process of transferring the amount set in advance tothe bank account of the ingredient manufacturer each time necessaryinformation is received from the ingredient manufacturer system 200. Thepayment of a fund can be performed by a bank transfer or usingelectronic money, etc.

INDUSTRIAL APPLICABILITY

As described above, according to the present invention, the compositionmanufacturer can efficiently obtain necessary information formanufacturing a new product by cooperating with other manufacturers.Therefore, the transactions among the manufacturers can be quicklyperformed. Furthermore, the product manufacturer discloses the mainingredient only to the ingredient manufacturer, and the ingredientmanufacturer can manufacture the final product without disclosing it toa composition manufacturer by dividing the product into plural pieces,thereby maintaining the security for the product manufacturer.

1. (canceled)
 2. (canceled)
 3. (canceled)
 4. (canceled)
 5. (canceled) 6.A medicine prototype support system for an ingredient manufacturerdeveloping medical product at a request of a product manufacturer,comprising a product manufacturer system of the product manufacturer, aningredient manufacturer system of the ingredient manufacturer, and aplurality of composition manufacturer systems of compositionmanufacturers which the ingredient manufacturer requests to manufacturea composition, which are connected through communications means, whereinthe product manufacturer system comprises transmission means fortransmitting at least main ingredient information about a medicalproduct to the ingredient manufacturer system; the ingredientmanufacturer system comprises: a database comprising confidential firstmain ingredient information and second main ingredient information afterinformation conversion corresponding to the first main ingredientinformation; composition ingredient determination means for determiningcomposition ingredient information for each process of medicinesdeveloped according to the main ingredient information; informationconversion means for information conversion from the main ingredientinformation to second main ingredient information corresponding to themain ingredient information using the database when the main ingredientinformation is confidential first main ingredient information; andtransmission means for transmitting to the plurality of compositionmanufacturer systems second main ingredient information converted by theinformation conversion means and the composition ingredient informationfor each process of medicines developed and obtained by the compositioningredient determination means, wherein the plurality of compositionmanufacturer systems comprise transmission means for transmittingcomposition manufacture information about the manufacture of a part of amanufacture process of the medical product to the ingredientmanufacturer system.
 7. (canceled)
 8. (canceled)